This chapter introduces the idea of school inspectors as implementers of public policy, framing their role within the context of policy implementation and the governance of education. Using a framework for policy implementation developed by Weible and Sabatier (Handbook of public policy analysis. Taylor and Francis, London, pp. 123-136, 2006), it…

Recently in "Sex Education" authors have raised concern with regards to Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) in resource-poor countries as part of Western European development aid policy. It has been argued that the agency-focused and rights-based nature of 'northern' sexuality education puts too much responsibility on young people's…

The vast majority of studies concerning the implementation of quality assurance in higher education institutions have been conducted from a national perspective, with few cross-national studies. This study aimed to explore the implementation of quality assurance standards in Europe from a comparative perspective. A questionnaire based on…

This article presents the results of scientific-pedagogical research, which consisted in analyzing the American experience of the Dalton plan in the schooling of the Netherlands, the ranking surveys according to strict criteria, and the implementation of an adapted version of the original American pedagogical model of the Dalton Plan in the…

Reflective career conversations are a necessary instrument in the career guidance of students in vocational education. These conversations help students to learn from their (work) experiences and gain a better understanding of their motives on the labour market. Research shows that in a society in which change seems to become the only constant…

This review examines the kinds of relationship between research and practice that have been envisaged in programmes designed to provide opportunities for beginning teachers to engage in "research-informed clinical practice". Although the terminology varies, scope for inclusion is defined by an intention to facilitate and deepen the…

The Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science has funded a five years program to encourage the use, creation and sharing of Open Educational Resources (OER) by teachers from various types of education. This program is known as Wikiwijs. Ultimo 2013, the program has come to an end. As some of the assumptions at the start of Wikiwijs proved…

Since 2006, the Netherlands has been actively engaged in a process of developing, piloting, and institutionalizing a new 2-year, short-cycle higher education degree, titled the "associate degree". This initiative evolved as a collaborative grassroots effort spearheaded by several Dutch national higher education and business organizations…

Networks aiming for fundamental changes bring together a variety of actors who are part and parcel of a problematic context. These system innovation projects need to be accompanied by a monitoring and evaluation approach that supports and maintains reflexivity to be able to deal with uncertainties and conflicts while challenging current practices…

This article focuses on work-based learning in higher vocational education and training in relation to lifelong learning. It begins with an overview of the Dutch National Policy and the ambitions of a national Project Directorate Learning & Working. It then goes on to the concrete results of projects within higher education (HE) aimed at the…

Attention shifted in recent years from design and implementation to use and usefulness of quality assurance. Scientific studies focus increasingly on quality assurance's impact on curricula and individual teachers. Which factors influence follow-up activities and what is their relation to improvement of education? One factor that we single out is…

This paper will provide a general overview of the implementation of the Communities that Care (CtC) programme in the Netherlands. It outlines the socio-historical development of the initiative and considers the rationale and starting point for the Dutch experiment and the tools used in the process. Attention will also be paid to the implementation…

This third and final article on effectiveness and efficiency in industrial training contains a number of suggestions on how to improve training effectively and describes how they are going about it in the Netherlands. (Author)

To reduce the multiplicity of secondary schools, broaden students' educations, allow later career choices, and increase educational equality, the Netherlands in 1975 established several experimental comprehensive secondary schools. Opposition at the time led to the separation of the schools from the regular school system. Development of the…

Evaluation of an on-the-job training model used by the Dutch post office showed it was not entirely successful. Improvement in the performance of mentors and the quality of self-study materials was needed. Mentors must be convinced of the benefit of the model for successful implementation. (SK)